Fire Base Illingworth: An Epic True Story of Remarkable Courage Against Staggering Odds

In the early morning hours of April 1, 1970, more than four hundred North Vietnamese soldiers charged out into the open and tried to overrun FSB Illingworth. The battle went on, mostly in the dark, for hours. Exposed ammunition canisters were hit and blew up, causing a thunderous explosion inside the FSB that left dust so thick it jammed the hand-held weapons of the GIs. Much of the combat was hand-to-hand. In all, twenty-four Americans lost their lives and another fifty-four were wounded.

The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam

Michael Lee Lanning's journal of his first tour of duty in Vietnam provides an unvarnished daily account of life in the field. The blood, fear, camaraderie, and tedium of combat and maneuver. Fleshed out with narrative and detail years later, the pages of this memorable book, first published in 1987, show an eager young recruit growing before the reader's eyes into a proud but bloodied combat veteran. Subsequent volumes in his Vietnam Trilogy will detail Lanning's tour as a company commander and his post-war investigation into the mind of the enemy.

Legend: A Harrowing Story from the Vietnam War of One Green Beret's Heroic Mission to Rescue a Special Forces Team Caught Behind Enemy Lines

In Legend, acclaimed best-selling author Eric Blehm takes as his canvas the Vietnam War as seen through a single mission that occurred on May 2, 1968. A 12-man Special Forces team had been covertly inserted into a small clearing in the jungles of neutral Cambodia - where US forces were forbidden to operate. Their objective, just miles over the Vietnam border, was to collect evidence that proved the North Vietnamese Army was using the Cambodian sanctuary as a major conduit for supplying troops and materiel to the south via the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Vietnam, 1969 - 1970: A Company Commander's Journal (No.1)

Lieutenant Michael Lee Lanning went to Vietnam as an eager young patriot who was confident of surviving the war. After six months in-country, he was promoted at age 23 to company commander, and his sense of duty began to shift from his nation to preserving the lives of the men in Bravo Company.

Chris M says:"Simply excellent"

Publisher's Summary

This is the incredible true story of a brave military unit in Vietnam that risked everything to rescue an outnumbered troop under heavy fire-and the 39-year odyssey to recognize their bravery.

The Vietnam war was coming to an end. The American soldier's were sent to find and kill as many North Vietnamese as possible. Their other order was to find the tunnel systems throughout the jungle, used by the North Vietnamese as bunkers. The tunnels were to be destroyed. They were to kill any and all men who were in the tunnels.

A small fighting unit came upon a fierce fighting force of North Vietnamese soldier's and knew that without help, they would all die. Therefore, the commanding officer sent out a distress signal for help several times over, pleading for help.

There was only one group of men available who could possibly meet there brother's in arms request. They had not even been able to get a full night's rest themselves, having already fought long and hard during the daylight hours. The men were told to get all of their gear together because they were about to head out for a long trek through the unforgivable landscape of Vietnam to help their comrades.

The small band of soldier's had stumbled upon the headquarters of the underground tunnels held by the North Vietnamese.

The men fought courageously without let-up and would have each have died a heroes death, if help had not arrived. The battle that followed was vicious. Neither the American's or North Vietnamese would "raise the white flag." It was not until the North Vietnamese returned no fire that the American's could claim victory.

The commander, who was of high rank, placed papers in the hands of the man who would be responsible to hand over, to the appropriate source, the names of those who should receive medals for their courageous acts during the battle just fought. This was done but the requests were lost in the shuffle of so much paper and forgotten. That was until 20 years later when two men met by accident and the man who had written up the requests was told that no one from that battle without a name, had not received any medals.

He took a 6 year trip through the bureaucracy of the US government to secure honor for the men who had fought, what was now referred to as the Blackhorse Riders.

The book was written well and there was a lot of action and suspense. The story was true and was a reminder to me that the Vietnam war was as real as any other war fought before or since. Men lived and died for their country. The narration was great and made for an easy listen. I've been reading books by authors giving true events that occurred while they fought in Vietnam. All have been memoirs. These men were proud to fight for their country, the United States of America. Remember, when men and women are called to fight for the USA, they stand tall and go to war knowing that they may not come home. Purchase this book and read about the intense battle named, Blackhorse Riders. You will not be disappointed if you enjoy this genre of books.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Norvin

redding, ca, United States

21/01/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great listen"

What made the experience of listening to Blackhorse Riders the most enjoyable?

having been in that particular nasty place I can understand what they were involved in

What did you like best about this story?

The fact that we smoked the NVA.

Which scene was your favorite?

The harrowing tale of being in the bunker areas that were so well hidden until you were upon them without the knowledge of them being there until the air was ripped by the sound of automatic weapons fire.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

hero's all

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Charles

LYNDON STATION, WISCONSIN, United States

22/09/12

Overall

Performance

Story

"11th. Amored Cav."

I served in Nam and new of friends who served with th 11th Cav. I have never heard of this story. It does not surprise me that there is no record of this battle. I was awarded a Bronze star for action in I Corp. but never had a write up for it, and later was only awarded one bronze star from a different action. The clerks in the rear wrote themselves up for all kinds of awards yet were never in combat. Alot of veterans never recieved awards they had earned.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

jrrich

24/03/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Good story, bad narration."

I really enjoyed this story. It was along the lines of We Were Soldiers Once, and Young. I have never been a fan of Dick Hill. Whatever he reads is Dick Hill reading the story. He is so slow at times I thought my download might have had a bug or error. Overall I enjoyed the story of intense combat in the latter days of the Vietnam war. If you can stand the monotone reading it is worth the price. Don't listen to Dick Hill while driving...

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

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